Railroad cross-tie.



.No. 897,819. PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1908.

WQ CLEMENT.

RAILROAD (moss TIE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 11,1907.

WILLIAM CLEMENT, OF TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN.

RAILROAD CROSS-TIE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1, 1908.

Application filed. September 11, 1907. Serial No. 392,343.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM CLEMENT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Traverse City, in the county of Grand Traverse and State ofMichigan, have invented a new and useful Railroad Cross-Tie, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to a cross tie for railroads, the object being toprovide a cheap, simple, and strong substitute for the wooden ties nowin use by bending a rectangular sheet of steel in such manner as to forma hollow body of suitable proportions for a cross tie.

A further object of the invention is to provide acap plate to cover thetie and rotect it from damage in case a train is derai ed and its wheelsare drawn across the ties. With these and other objects in view theinvention comprises certain novel combina tion and arrangement of partshereinafter described and definitely claimed.

In the accompanying drawing :-Figure 1 is a perspective view of theimproved tie. Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal sectional view of the cross tie on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.Fig. 4 is a view of the blank from which the tie is made. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of the cross tie cap.

Similar numerals are used throughout for like parts.

The cross tie 1 is made of galvanized plate steel bent into shape from arectangular sheet such as shown in Fig. 4'. The tie 1 comprises a base 2and a narrower parallel top 3 from Which the sides 4: and 5 inclinedownwardly in opposite directions but at equal angles to the base 2. Theside 4 is continuous with the top and bottom of the tie, but the side 5while integral with the top, is connected to the bottom by folding aflange 6 on the base 2 over the lower edge of said side 5, where itrests on said base, and which prevents the tie from spreading under theweight imposed by passing trains.

Two tongues 7, one near each end of the tie, project above the topsurface of said tie and are each shaped to fit closely over one side ofthe bottom flange of a railroad rail to hold said rail firmly to the tieon that side. The other side of the bottom flange is held in place bybolts 8 with large heads screwed into holes 9 in the top and bottom ofthe tie. Referring to Fig. 1 it Will be seen that the tongues 7 are soplaced that at one end of the tie the outer rail flange will be seatedunder one of the tongues, While on the other end of the tie, the innerflange will be held in place by the other tongue. If desired, bothtongues may be placed on the outside of the rails or both on the inside.

In Fig. 5 is shown a cap plate 10 made of similar material as the tieand provided with fastening tongues 11 and screw bolt holes 12. Theedges 13 of the cap plate are preferably bent downwardly at the sameangle as the sides of the tie. The cap plate 10 when placed over the tieprotects it from injury and defacement should a passing train becomederailed. When the plate is in use, the tongues 7 on the ties are raisedsufliciently to enter slots 14 in the plate, made by bending up thetongues 11. The rails are fastened as heretofore described by thetongues 11 and bolts passing through the holes 12 in the cap plate andthe holes 9 in the tie, these bolts fastening the cap plate to the tie.The cap plate may also be used on Wooden ties, especially such as areold and soft, by spiking them thereto through the holes 12. These capsso applied prevent the rails from spreading.

Ties constructed as above described may be made of any length, width orheight, and of any gage steel required by the traffic of the road.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is 1. A railroad tiemade of a sheet of plate steel bent into a hollow body having equallybut oppositely inclined sides and parallel top and bottom, the top beingnarrower than the bottom and having upwardly bent in tegral tongues anda threaded hole near each tongue, in line with a similar hole in thebottom of the tie.

2. A railroad tie made of plate steel with parallel top and bottom andinclined sides,

said top having integral tongues and holes adjacent said tongues in lineWith holes in my own, I have hereto affixed my signature the liottoniand adcai i plate lidavingd dOWE- in the presence of two Witnesses..Wardy inc ined si e anges a apte to t over said tie and be fastenedthereto by WILLIAM CLEMENT 5 bolts passing through holes therein and theWitnesses:

alined holes 1n the top and bottom of the tie. F. W. WILSON,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as OSCAR SIMPSON.

